A Table In Havana
Saveur|November 2015
In Cuba's readily changing political environment, in-home restaurants known as paladares are proving to be particularly robust incubators for innovation.
Julia Cooke, photographs by Tegra Nuess
A Table In Havana

The only salt sold in Cuba is the iodized kind, packaged in plastic bags and parked on low grocery shelves. So when Niuris Higueras travels outside the country, she returns with suitcases stuffed with flaky sea salt.

“Twenty kilos of sea salt, yes,” Higueras says, ticking off a list. “Sesame seeds, separated into black and white, because you only get a sort of mixed sesame here. Curry spices—not in their individual plastic containers, but in larger bags to save weight. Hand towels for the bathrooms...”

We’re in the main dining room of her popular Havana restaurant, Atelier—a long, high-ceilinged, church-like space on the second floor of a Spanish colonial home, shot through with light and wind from the high open windows. The aesthetic is graceful grandma chic, all heavy, curved wood furniture, vintage tableware, 1950s radios, and modernist Murano glass ashtrays. Lunchtime guests, including a group of 30 tourists, clink glasses and laugh as white embroidered tablecloths puff in the breeze. While Higueras details her shopping list, an American diplomat and his wife, off to their next posting in a few weeks, eat dishes seasoned with the spices she brought from Miami a few weeks ago.

In Cuba, in-home restaurants like Atelier, known as paladares, were legalized in the 1990s but limited by idiosyncratically enforced regulations: a maximum of 12 seats, no beef or lobster, only ingredients purchased at state stores, at least two “family helpers” as staff. Those restaurants that survived despite the restrictions possessed a speakeasy ambiance and exclusively served Cuban food. In 2011, nationwide economic reforms loosened regulations, and in short order, paladares— some selling comparatively exotic Indian or Spanish food—outstripped state-run restaurants in both number and popularity.

Bu hikaye Saveur dergisinin November 2015 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye Saveur dergisinin November 2015 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

SAVEUR DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
Raising a Better Bird
Saveur

Raising a Better Bird

Blue Apron founder Matt Wadiak has moved onto greener pastures, where happy chickens roam free.

time-read
2 dak  |
Fall 2020
One Good Bottle
Saveur

One Good Bottle

Tamara Irish is a natural winemaker. Way natural.

time-read
2 dak  |
Fall 2020
My Not-So-Secret Garden
Saveur

My Not-So-Secret Garden

Good (vegetable-laden) fences make good neighbors in one tiny town.

time-read
4 dak  |
Fall 2020
Pralines: How They Cook 'Em in New Orleans
Saveur

Pralines: How They Cook 'Em in New Orleans

Pralines: How They Cook ’Em in New Orleans

time-read
4 dak  |
Winter 2019-20
My Father's French Onion Soup
Saveur

My Father's French Onion Soup

Postwar Paris had a lifelong influence on James Edisto Mitchell—both as an artist and a cook BY Shane Mitchell

time-read
7 dak  |
Winter 2019-20
Our All-Time Best Recipes
Saveur

Our All-Time Best Recipes

If anyone should know if a recipe’s a keeper, it’s the person tasked with making sense of the original instructions—from the far reaches of Sri Lanka, say, or a famous chef who measures nothing. This might explain why many test kitchen staffers named favorites that their predecessors had tested and recommended. (Though a couple put forth recipes they developed themselves.) And while Saveur never shies away from the oddball authentic ingredient, the fare on the following pages is the stuff we cook at home, over and over again. Consider it global comfort food.

time-read
10+ dak  |
Winter 2019-20
Genever Is the Original Juniper Spirit
Saveur

Genever Is the Original Juniper Spirit

Don’t call it a comeback. Or gin

time-read
5 dak  |
Winter 2019-20
Tending The Bines
Saveur

Tending The Bines

Overshadowed by high-end viticulture, the art of growing hops for beer might not always get the recognition it deserves.

time-read
3 dak  |
Summer 2019
Field Of Dreams
Saveur

Field Of Dreams

The son of an innovative pea farmer is carrying on his father’s legacy.

time-read
1 min  |
Summer 2019
Jamaican Jerk Marinade - Fire And Spice
Saveur

Jamaican Jerk Marinade - Fire And Spice

Jamaican jerk is more than a marinade—it’s a smoky, flame-grilled cooking style that uses the best ingredients of its home island.

time-read
2 dak  |
Summer 2019